I have been "embroiled" in a discussion as to which Hollywood actresses had the best figures, a topic that spilled over from my previously stating that Janet Leigh had, perhaps, the second best body in films during her prime (placing behind only the legendary Joi Lansing). My fellow "debater" has accused me of weighting my scale in favor of breast development in lieu of other key body parts and that Janet was out-of-proportion and really not the ideal form I perceived her to be. Although, as has been stated ad nauseum on this as well as many other message boards, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the academic study outlined below seems to lend some credence to my preferences and point of view. I await the pending fusillade in return, but having the backing Harvard University is more than reassuring and clearly indicates that I am not some perverted lout but merely a victim of my genes and gender.I rest my case.


Why Men Lust For an Hourglass Figure

Men lust for women with the traditional hourglass figure. Okay, that's not news. What is news is why they are attracted to this shape more than any other: Women who have large breasts and tiny waists may have the highest reproductive potential, giving a biological reason to men's proclivity for ladies who have a figure like a Barbie doll.

An international team of researchers from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland and Harvard University in Boston, Mass., determined that women who have a relatively low waist-to-hip ratio and large breasts have 30 percent higher levels of the female reproductive hormones than do women with other combinations of body shapes, reports New Scientist. Previous research from Harvard has shown that higher levels of hormones are related to higher fertility in women who are trying to get pregnant. "If there are 30 percent higher levels, it means they are roughly three times more likely to get pregnant," lead study author Grazyna Jasienska, a human biologist with Jagiellonian University, told New Scientist. "In Western societies, the cultural icon of Barbie as a symbol of female beauty seems to have some biological grounding. I would be the last person to propagate Barbie. But when you think about the hourglass shape, Barbie is sort of the symbol."